Saturday, 10 December 2016

ACQ Prep Work: Part 5 - The necessities.

Fortune favors the brave, the bold – and the prepared, the well-armed and the well-endowed...

Hello and welcome to the part 5 of the [ACQ Prep Work] article series. Today, for the final part of the series, we will be looking at the necessary accessories a player should bring when attending the Asia Champion Qualifiers Winter 2017 (Singapore) on Sunday.

1) Your deck

It would be a good time to ensure that your deck is properly sleeved (again), and the side showing the card's artwork is transparent, without any designs or even a Matt surface. The back side of the card must also be opaque.

It would also be appropriate to clear your deck box of any miscellaneous cards, be it your loose commons from the pack or just spare cards that you previously wanted to include in your deck. Apart from preventing any confusion (where you may accidentally shuffle it in) or misunderstanding (which may lead to game losses when your decklist is incorrectly matched to your deck), it is against the tournament rules to include cards that are not meant to be in your deck in your deck box.

Unofficial tokens are also unaccepted in a major tournament like the Asia Championship Qualifiers. Tokens, regardless of designs, can be used for the tournament as long as they are marked as [TOKEN].

Lastly, go through your deck again and make any last minute changes you want to, without forgetting to make the same alterations on your physical decklist as well. Do not be like me, who forgotten to include a key vital component card into the Extra Deck and go ahead to start the day.

2) Decklist

Personally, I would strongly suggest to include the set number of cards as opposed to the name of cards. Apart from the lengthy names, there may be some discrepancies between the official English names and the fan-translated names of cards. Although it should be noted that a decklist enlisting the card names will also be accepted.

If you are feeling hardworking and have the free time, it won't hurt to write down BOTH the set name and the card name. A for effort~

Nevertheless, regardless of which sequence you decide to pen down, do write legibly and stick with it throughout the entire deck list. If not, you have the option of typing out the decklist before printing it out. Do, of course, always adhere to the limit and restrictions of the game, such as the 60card limit for the Main Deck and the 15card limit of the Side & Extra Deck.

3) Accessories.

Pen & Paper - The officially accepted method for recording lifepoints and resolving lifepoints dispute. You can bring a calculator along to help with the calculations, but do record all changes, black and white, on the paper. Phones are generally disallowed to prevent cheating and communication between spectators and players. Hence, I would advise you to bring a physical calculator. Now would be a good time to pick up that graphic calculator you tossed aside after your exams concluded, students.

Dice, Tokens, Coin - For players who has cards that require them for the resolution and decision of effects. Dices are also important in deciding which player takes the lead, and at the same time, can act as a count for cards generating counters.

Duelist ID - Remember your Duelist ID number and apply for an account if you have not already.

Sleeves - Once again, check that your sleeves are properly placed and inserted, with every sleeve being identical and no 'wear-and-tear' markings to differentiate them from one another. Additionally, prepare spare sleeves in an event that your sleeves are damaged in the middle of the day and also, if you are ordered to change your sleeves after being called out for possessing a marked sleeve.

4) Personal equipment

For the ill, do not forget to bring along your personal medication, if any.

Due to the lack of lunch breaks and time to consume your meals, a smart move would be to pack energy bars and energy drinks or even a packet lunch to last you throughout the day. Otherwise, you will be left rushing between fast food restaurants and the event venue between your rounds.

A timer or watch can be used to keep track of time, a water bottle to prevent yourself from dying of thirst and a jacket to protect you from freezing to death.

5) Knowledge

Finally, learn and know where the event venue is located at, including the walking & public transport route you plan to take to reach there. In the off chance that things go south on the day itself, be prepared to embark on your alternative plan to reach the event site. Set your alarm and wake up in time. Don't play the risky game of shutting your eyes after you silenced your alarm. Wake up for ACQ and play the salty game of Yu-Gi-Oh instead.

For smokers desperate for a smoke between rounds, you would probably be interested in the location of the nearest smoking corner.

At this point, we shall end the ACQ Prep Work article series. I started this series out on a spur of the moment, remembering how lost and unprepared I was for my first premier event back in December 2012. The competitive scene being filled with Dragon Rulers didn't helped much either; it felt like barking wolves hunting and preying on a lost lamb like me piloting a crippled-by-banlist Chaos Dragon deck.

Know what to expect of the metagame, the competitive scene, the environment & situation and lastly, manage your own expectations and goals on how far you wish to achieve for the event.

On that note, Dueling "C" wishes everyone the best of luck. Play nice, and have fun dueling.